S. Korea court orders sale of seized Mitsubishi Heavy assets

SEOUL — A South Korean court has ordered assets seized from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. to be liquidated as requested by two plaintiffs, in connection with a lawsuit against the company by former requisitioned workers from the Korean Peninsula.

This is the first time that a South Korean court has ordered the liquidation of Japanese corporate assets in a lawsuit related to former requisitioned workers from the peninsula.

The Daejeon District Court ordered on Monday the liquidation of MHI patents and trademarks. The company plans to file an immediate appeal.

A lawsuit filed against the company by five former requisitioned workers, including members of the Korean Women’s Volunteer Labor Corps, was finalized by South Korea’s top court in November 2018.

An application was made in March 2019 by four of the five plaintiffs — one is deceased — for seizure of the company’s assets. In response, a South Korean court seized two MHI trademark rights and six patent rights worth a total of about 804 million won (about ¥75.8 million).

In July of the same year, the plaintiffs applied for an order to liquidate the assets.

MHI filed an immediate appeal to stop the seizure of its assets, but on Sept. 10, the South Korean top court dismissed the company’s appeal against part of the seizure. The judicial decision on the application for liquidation had been closely watched.

SEEKING APPROPRIATE MEASURES

The Japanese government has repeatedly called for illegal situations to be rectified, saying that the South Korean courts’ decisions to seek compensation from Japanese companies over former requisitioned workers violate the 1965 Agreement on the Settlement of Problems Concerning Property and Claims and on Economic Cooperation between Japan and South Korea.

The agreement states that the issue of claims between the two countries has been confirmed to have been “settled completely and finally.”

The Japanese government is prepared to take countermeasures if the liquidation of the assets causes actual damage to MHI.

On Monday, MHI called the ruling “extremely regrettable” and said, “We understand that the issue of claims has been completely and finally settled.” The company said it will file an immediate appeal and take appropriate measures while maintaining contact with the Japanese government. (Sept. 29)